Arachnophobia
by ReadingLuver
Summary: Companion Fic to The Order Reads. How did Fabian develop such an extreme fear of spiders. One-shot


**AN: THis is a companion fic to the Order Reads, which I wrote with my friend, sardonicwriter. It can be read alone, however, the idea comes from a specific joke that one of our reviewrs asked us to embellish on. I also wanted to take the chance to look at Mrs. Weasley while she was at Hogwarts. I always thought she would be a lot like Ginny when she was younger. She was probably stricter than Ginny is (obviously) but I think she might have had a little bit of mischief in her as well. After all, we all know that Molly is simply full of surprises.**

**Arachnophobia**

"I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN!"

All of Gryffindor tower was woken up before dawn that morning by the shouts of an irate Molly Prewett and a pair of dangerously gleeful eleven year olds. It was yet another show down between a sister and her little brothers. Their quarrels had been breaking out at regular intervals since the year had started six months ago, when the Prewett twins had arrived at Hogwarts. There was no doubt whatsoever that Fabian and Gideon belonged in Gryffindor. They proved their bravery (or folly as the case may be) almost daily by deliberately provoking their volatile older sister.

In this particular case, Molly had woken to find the pair had sent her an owl in the night. This would be harmless enough if the letter accompanying the owl hadn't been charmed to spray her with cologne. (Suspiciously enough, it was the exact cologne used by one Arthur Weasley.) She had already tried showering only to find that the smell had gotten stronger. The twins must have received help from one of the older students on this offense.

"Oh, come on Molly! It's all in good fun," Fabian tried to reason with the enraged red head.

"Yeah, we only wanted to give you a little cheering up," Gideon added.

"I told them this would happen if they let you miscreants in! Mum thinks you're perfect angels and wouldn't listen. Well now you're really in for it. You do realize that you just pranked a _Prefect._"

"Ooooh, I'm so scared. What are you going to do? Give us a detention?" Gideon asked.

"We know you aren't going to dock points."

Molly let out an angry scream that sounded to many of the onlookers that had come to watch the show like a strangled war cry. The twins looked at each other and realized they may have gone too far. They backed up a few steps as their sister enclosed on them. Luckily for them, the other sixth year prefect chose that moment to walk into the common room. Arthur Weasley immediately began to run interference.

"Good morning Molly. It's a nice morning isn't it? A bit early for my taste, but at least we'll be able to see the sunrise in the Great Hall. Perhaps you'll allow me to sit with you and your friends at breakfast?"

Molly's wrath seemed to subside a little as she blushed furiously at Arthur's appearance. Then she looked at her brothers and her eyes glinted dangerously.

"Why don't you let me handle the trouble-makers this morning? It might go over better if you're not the one giving out the punishment."

The twins saw their sister begin to take Arthur's advice and relaxed. They grinned at each other. Unfortunately, Molly had looked at them in time to see it. Her eyes narrowed.

"Alright Arthur. I suppose I'll let you handle them this once. I'll see you at breakfast." She smiled at Arthur and gave her brothers an appraising look. She suddenly got a mischievous look in her eyes. Fabian gulped as Gideon gave Arthur a relieved smile. Molly left the room with a few friends and Arthur stepped up to the boys as the crowd dissipated, some going down to breakfast, but most going back to bed to enjoy a few more hours of sleep on a fine Saturday morning.

"I wish you wouldn't wind your sister up like that. It makes her difficult for the rest of the day you know," he said.

"But it's so much fun!" Gideon exclaimed.

"Besides, you need a challenge every now and then," Fabian added mischievously.

"Thanks for that," Arthur said wryly. "I would have thought it was more dangerous than fun. Especially for the two of you."

"I don't know Gid, she seemed pretty peeved this morning," Fabian pointed out.

"She'll get over it. Arthur will sweet-talk her and we'll be in the clear."

Arthur sighed. He was not looking forward to spending his Hogsmeade weekend taking care of Molly's brothers. Of course, he could just keep her mind off of them for a few hours, but that was about as likely as the Prewett twins acting mature for a few minutes. Once Molly got hold of something like this, she wouldn't let it go unless there was a huge distraction. He vowed that this would be the last time he kept Molly from getting her revenge. They really did deserve it. "The usual boys," he said resignedly.

"Detention with Hagrid for two weekends," the twins said in unison.

Arthur fought back a smile and asked "Have you already started adding detentions to your second year?"

"I would think we're up to fourth year by now!" Fabian said melodramatically. (He was always inclined to be over-dramatic)

"Somehow I doubt that."

Fabian noticed Molly watching them carefully for the next week. The look in her eyes made him nervous. Gideon didn't think much of it.

"She always watches us," he said dismissively. "She just wants to catch us at something."

Fabian took comfort from Gideon's words and began to realize that it had been a week since they last pulled a prank on their sister. He immediately began to plot.

His efforts were rewarded later that evening when Molly opened her bag and let out a resounding shriek. A large tarantula belonging to a seventh year Ravenclaw had made its way between her ink and quills. Fabian broke down into a laughing fit. Unfortunately, this caught Molly's eye. Much to the surprise of the entire common room, Molly did not go into a passionate rage. Her eyes narrowed and she slowly walked over to Fabian (who had stopped laughing, having noticed the sudden silence in the room). She stood in front of him and said calmly, "So."

Fabian gulped audibly. "So…what?" Again, the expected explosion did not follow.

"So you think spiders are funny do you?" she asked without a trace of emotion.

"A little funny, yeah," Fabian said. If he was going to get in trouble for a knut, he may as well make it a galleon. Molly began to smile. It was unnerving to everyone in the room. Arthur began to grin. He had figured out where this was going. He resolved to aid Molly in anyway possible.

"I'm glad you think so," she said. Then she turned and walked out through the portrait hole, leaving her housemates in the complete silence of a crowd that has witnessed the unexpected. Nobody knew what to think, and no one could ever have guessed what would happen next.

All of Gryffindor house was awoken in the early hours of dawn once again by a shout from a Prewett. This time, however, it did not come from the girl's dorms or the common room. No, this time the unearthly shriek came from the first year boy's dormitories. More specifically it was coming from a red-headed eleven year old boy who had woken up to find himself eye to eye with an enlarged and very hairy tarantula. His bed had been covered with spiders of all shapes and sizes. As Fabian opened his mouth to shout out (he thought it was a trick of Gideon's) two grand-daddy long legs flew into his mouth and down his throat. It was then that he gave a shriek that woke everyone. He soon found that every time he opened his mouth a spider flew in. He clamped his hand over his mouth and jumped out of bed. The others in his dorm looked on in surprise as he jerked the door open to be met with an unexpected sight.

Fabian's eyes grew wide.

Gideon dissolved into wild laughter.

Xavier Smith's mouth fell open and he too swallowed a couple of the arachnids.

Kingsley Shacklebolt shook his head as if trying to understand something.

Molly Prewett and Arthur Weasley were leaning against the door frame, their arms crossed and bearing smug smiles.

In his shock, Fabian forgot to keep his mouth shut. As soon as it fell open, Molly flicked her wand and another spider found a home in Fabian's mouth. He gagged and Arthur began to chuckle. The twins gave him a betrayed glare.

"Don't worry brother, dear. They aren't _real_ spiders. At least not the ones you happen to be eating," Molly explained as she demonstrated by transfiguring a pack of cockroach clusters in to a pack of spiders.

As reassuring as this information was, it did not change the outcome that would be determined by Fabian's dramatic nature. The twins would never again play a prank on Molly (at least, not openly or at Hogwarts). Fabian and Gideon had learned that Molly could be just as mischievous as they were when the mood struck her and had gained a new level of respect for her (not to mention Arthur).

Of course, Fabian later discovered another side effect. While working in the greenhouses two weeks later, he yelled out and fainted on the spot. To his twin's glee, Madame Chicory's official diagnosis was arachnophobia.


End file.
